1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a convertible vehicle with a roof that has a flexible roof covering at least in its rear area, wherein the flexible roof covering is movable between an open position and a closed state, wherein the roof covering can be held under tension relative to the automobile body by at least one tension bow, and, wherein, in the open position, the tension bow rests on one or more supports. The invention also relates to a movable vehicle roof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many convertible vehicles are known which have a metal roof frame that supports a roof covering, the rear region of which is held from below by a tension bow. A representative of this general class of vehicles is the current Audi convertible based on the Audi A4. When the roof of this vehicle is closed, the tension bow rests on a part of the automobile body—in this case a movable cover part—and stretches the roof covering, the front end of which can be held on a rigid roof tip. A roof of this type must be properly aligned when it is mounted in the bodyshell. For this reason, adjustable supports, on which the tension bow rests in the open position of the roof, are provided in the bodyshell, e.g., in the area of the rear wheel house. The adjustment of the supports must be performed very precisely both to prevent the tension bow from rubbing parts of the folding-top compartment as it is being lowered, since this could damage the folding-top compartment and/or the tension bow itself, and to achieve optimized folding of the roof covering. A final position of the tension bow that is too high would result in the roof covering being too tightly folded in the open position of the mounted roof, so that kinks would be formed in the roof covering. On the other hand, if the supports are adjusted too low, the aforementioned collision of the tension bow with parts of the automobile body could occur. In addition, both supports on both sides of the automobile body must be adjusted to allow compensation of possible height misalignment between the sides of the vehicle due to production tolerances.
To be sure, readjustment of the supports in the bodyshell before installation of the roof is possible to the extent that it compensates bodyshell manufacturing tolerances. However, since the roof to be installed also has tolerances, but correct folding must nevertheless be ensured, fine adjustment of the supports is possible only after the roof has been installed. Due to the space conditions in the automobile body, this is laborious and time-consuming.